Rebuilding the Altar

3 ^(A)When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. ² Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of ^(C)Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, ^(D)as it is written in the Law of Moses the ^(E)man of God. ³ They set the altar in its place, ^(F)for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and ^(G)they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. ^4 (H)And they kept the Feast of Booths, ^(I)as it is written, ^(J)and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, ⁵ and after that the regular burnt ^(K)offerings, the offerings at the new moon ^(L)and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. ⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. ⁷ So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, ^(M)and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians ^(N)to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, ^(O)according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Rebuilding the Temple

⁸ Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, ^(P)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and ^(Q)Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They ^(R)appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to ^(S)supervise the work of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And ^(T)Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together ^(U)supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the ^(V)sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

¹⁰ And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, ^(W)according to the directions of David king of Israel. ¹¹ And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, ^(Y)old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, ¹³ so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding

4 Now when ^(Z)the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever ^(AA)since the days of ^(AB)Esarhaddon king of Assyria ^(AC)who brought us here.” ³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, ^(AD)“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(AE)as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴ Then ^(AF)the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build ⁵ and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶ And in the reign of ^(AG)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

⁷ In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and ^(AH)Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written ^(AI)in Aramaic and translated.^{[a] 8} Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: ⁹ Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the ^(AJ)judges, the ^(AK)governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the ^(AL)Elamites, ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble ^(AM)Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. ¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now ¹² be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are ^(AN)finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³ Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay ^(AO)tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. ¹⁴ Now because we eat the salt of the palace^[b] and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, ¹⁵ in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The King Orders the Work to Cease

¹⁷ The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now ¹⁸ the letter that you sent to us has been ^(AP)plainly read before me. ¹⁹ And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. ²⁰ And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, ^(AQ)who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom ^(AR)tribute, custom, and toll were paid. ²¹ Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. ²² And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

²³ Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. ²⁴ Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of Solomon.

The Resurrection of Christ

15 Now I would remind you, brothers,^[a] of the gospel ^(A)I preached to you, which you received, ^(B)in which you stand, ² and by which ^(C)you are being saved, if you ^(D)hold fast to the word I preached to you—^(E)unless you believed in vain.

³ For ^(F)I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died ^(G)for our sins ^(H)in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised ^(I)on the third day ^(J)in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that ^(K)he appeared to Cephas, then ^(L)to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to ^(M)James, then ^(N)to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, ^(O)he appeared also to me. ⁹ For ^(P)I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because ^(Q)I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, ^(R)I worked harder than any of them, ^(S)though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, ^(T)how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, ^(U)then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that ^(V)he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and ^(W)you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who ^(X)have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope^[b] in this life only, ^(Y)we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact ^(Z)Christ has been raised from the dead, ^(AA)the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as ^(AB)by a man came death, ^(AC)by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For ^(AD)as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then ^(AE)at his coming ^(AF)those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers ^(AG)the kingdom to God the Father after destroying ^(AH)every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign ^(AI)until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be ^(AJ)destroyed is death. ²⁷ For ^(AK)“God^[c] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. ²⁸ When ^(AL)all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that ^(AM)God may be all in all.

²⁹ Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? ³⁰ Why are we ^(AN)in danger every hour? ³¹ I protest, brothers, by ^(AO)my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^(AP)I die every day! ³² What do I gain if, humanly speaking, ^(AQ)I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ^(AR)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ^33 (AS)Do not be deceived: ^(AT)“Bad company ruins good morals.”^{[d] 34 (AU)}Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For ^(AV)some have no knowledge of God. ^(AW)I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, ^(AX)“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish person! ^(AY)What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

^42 (AZ)So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; ^(BA)it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, ^(BB)“The first man Adam became a living being”;^{[e] (BC)}the last Adam became a ^(BD)life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ^47 (BE)The first man was from the earth, ^(BF)a man of dust; ^(BG)the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, ^(BH)so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just ^(BI)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(BJ)we shall^[f] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: ^(BK)flesh and blood ^(BL)cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. ^(BM)We shall not all sleep, ^(BN)but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For ^(BO)the trumpet will sound, and ^(BP)the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and ^(BQ)this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^(BT)the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, ^(BU)who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (BV)Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in ^(BW)the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord ^(BX)your labor is not in vain.